I am one of those people that let themselves carried by the wind sometimes and I let everything to the destiny or fate or whatever. Sometimes (rarely) I feel like going out of my comfort zone, but it is not easy because like you and many other I fall into the routine and is so difficult to get out. It is like everybody hates it, but nobody does something to get out of it. But when I finally decide to get out of my comfort zone, I go big, well kinda.

Since the university offers the opportunity to do a semester abroad, I decided to go for it. I was planning to stay in Europe, so I can get Erasmus plus, obviously and enjoy the experience maybe without working. I was planning to go to Spain and attend the classes in Spanish and learn it at a mother tongue level. But things didn’t go exactly that way. I was thinking about Spain for months, planning everything, searching for apartments and one week before the deadline for the exchange semester application I started to think about Australia because I saw it on the list with the options. When I sent the application, I put Australia as the first priority, and then the other countries, South Korea, Spain and Austria, just to be sure I will get somewhere. I really didn’t want to stay another semester in Denmark. I had to wait a few weeks and then the big news arrived, first to my classmates, and they were super happy. But 10 min after they received the news, I received also an email saying that I was eligible for Australia and they offered me a spot. I was soooo happy that I ran all around the campus with a freaky smiling face.

Long story short, I got the visa (expensive AF), plane tickets and I also think I have a place where to stay. Next semester I am going to be in Springfield, Australia. BTW if you hear someone yelling is me, I saw a spider or another creepy creature.

Often life surprises us, sometimes in a positive way or a negative way but it is up to us to adapt to the new plan and to never give up. We need to let ourselves do mistakes and wrong in order to learn and grow. We do not know what might happen the next day and our plans might get ruined. Be bold and do everything with the same energy and motivation that you were supposed to put in your scheduled plans.

Do not be scared by the unexpected, embrace it if it’s positive or kicks its ass if it’s negative.

I discovered a new culture, food and traditions- I haven’t adapted to everything, but hey I am human so bear with me 😊

I learned to be independent – before I always lived with my parents and this as my first alone experience.

I started to speak 4 languages daily – let me tell ya, it is exhausting, and you can easily do mistakes and have blackouts.

I spoke more Spanish than Danish 😊 – I speak it every day with my friend Adriana.

I am making money 😊 – well sort of, I have to pay rent, bills and food and other stuff but I have been able to economically sustain myself without depending on my parents and this is great.

I went on a road trip with my lovely friends, Jurgita and Mike from Denmark to Italy.

I lost my curly hair – noooo this is a tragedy, I do not know how this happened but this summer something changed in my body and now my hair is lifeless, flat and almost straight.

I started to walk more and more and more 😊 – when I was living in Italy, I was walking max 8km per day, now I am walking more than 15 km daily.

I found a cool part-time job, learned some new things and became more confident.

I started to go to the gym and put some effort – I cannot see the significant results yet but I am working on it.

I also become more depressed during winter, when the days are shorter and there is no sun, but as soon as the day is sunny, my mood goes up.

I am super happy and full of energy in summer when the day starts at 4 am and ends almost at midnight

I opened this blog and believe or not people are reading it and some of you actually came to study at my University, the rest went to Odense, Copenhagen, Arhus and other cities.

A lot of other things have happened some good, some bad but the most important part is to keep going, fight everything and everyone that comes into your way and try to stop you from reaching your goal.

Since I moved to Denmark and I lived here for 2 years, I had fun, I learned a lot, I met a lot of people but now is time to move forward. Guess where 😊 you will find out on my next post…

In 2016 I was so happy to come and study and live in Denmark but after 2 years and a half, things have changed, and I cannot wait to leave this country.

Before Denmark

When I looked for information online and found pictures and read stories and articles everything seems so positive and I started imagining how my life would be in Denmark since in Italy I had no future. I also found less positive experiences but I thought that those were isolated cases and maybe people were exaggerating. I was overexcited that I could study for free that I wasn’t processing other information.

After my arrival in Denmark

When I arrived in Denmark, I was so lucky to have friends that supported and helped me, and I am going to be forever grateful to them for this. I hope that someday I will be able to change their favour. I was lucky to live close to the university and during the first semester everything went smooth and I liked the programme and the teaching method. The exam period was a bit stressful, but everything went more than fine.Before Christmas I also applied for a marketing related job and just before Christmas Eve, I discovered that the job was mine. I worked in Trendhim since then and I am so lucky to do this experience during my school years. I was also surprised to discover that besides offering a free education, the Danish government offers also an economic help to EU students that work more than 44 hrs per month. I chose to apply to receive the help and I got it.

My experience with the Danish language school

I forgot to mention that since my arrival in Denmark I started also the language class in order to learn Danish and to become part of the society. During the second semester, I had to give up on the language classes due to time issues. I was having lessons twice a week from 5 pm to 7.50 pm and it was pretty difficult to manage my time with the university and the job. I mover the classes to Saturday morning from 9 am to 1.30 pm, but this didn’t work either. We also changed teachers and the new ones weren’t engaging. I had to give up on something and I decided that this would be the Danish classes.

When everything started to fall apart

During the 4th semester, we had to do a 3-month unpaid internship, and I was fine with it. Nowadays is normal to have unpaid internships, because people need to build careers and make experience working full time, but nobody asks them how they pay rent or buy food. I was ok because I still had the part-time job that I decided to keep during the internship period in order to receive the help from the government and have an income.Please notice that with only my salary after taxes (salary 2900 dkk) I pay the rent (rent 2850 dkk + laundry 50 dkk) and that’s it, then with the help from the government, I can live through the month. I try to be as honest as possible with you.Since the first week I started to feel tired, I was working 11 hrs in front of the pc and walking 10 km (I suffer from car sickness and I use buses, trains and cars only in extreme cases or when necessary). During the 2nd month, I took one week of vacation from work in order to focus only on one thing. It worked but by the end of the internship, I was physically and mentally exhausted. During this period, I also had to write the bachelor project 😊.

Since I had pain everywhere, I decided to go to the doctor for the first time since I came to Denmark. Worst experience ever. I cried after I walked out, I couldn’t imagine how a doctor can speak like this to a patient.I have a small issue since I was born, one of my legs is bigger and stronger and this causes pain to my back, legs and feet. I live daily with the pain but when it was too much, I decided to book the appointment.The doctor seemed nice when I went inside, and I started to describe my history since it was the first time that we met. She also measured my leg and saw the difference was significant between the 2 legs and I was hoping she will send me to an orthopaedic but no she said that a physiotherapist would be enough, and I should look for it on google. I was like ok but can I also have some blood analysis to check why I have so much inflammation in my tendons and she said to me that this is not possible for Romanian and Polish students, because our national insurance doesn’t cover the cost in DK. I immediately stopped her and told her that actually I am registered in Italy and with Romania, I have no ties. Then she changed her answer by saying that I was too young for blood analysis that I am healthy and in Denmark, they do not prescribe blood analyses for people as young as me. I immediately left and called my mum and said to her to book a visit to Italy ASAP. I went back to Italy and my doctor ordered a full check-up and she gave me some medicine to fight the tendon inflammation and the blood analysis shown some worrying news and I had to take some other medicine.In autumn the problem returned, and I went again, this time I met another doctor and he sent me to an orthopaedic surgeon, that told me that the tendon is not inflamed enough, it is shorter than the one in the right leg and if the pain and issues persist, I should come back in one year to do a surgery and then he sent me away.This was my awful experience with the Danish healthcare system, and I know that out there are cases worse than mine. Unfortunately, I decided that I cannot stay in a country that treats patients with superficiality, especially if they are foreigners. Since my problem might get worse, I prefer to live in a country when I am sure I will receive some sort of attention and cure.

And yet another reason

But this negative experience is not the only reason why I decided to leave. Denmark is a rich country that offers many possibilities, but its people culture is not for everybody. Everything depends on the city you live in, the bigger the city the better. People are closed sometimes, and it is difficult to approach them and create a friendship. I am lucky to have many international friends. I do not socialize as Danes do and that is why I will not stay here longer than needed.I contributed to the society in these 2 and half years, by working and I also received a lot and for this I am grateful, but I have to change chapter in my life.

I wish I can write this post and bring good news as always, but unfortunately this time I have to deliver some worrying news for future international students: Danish government decided to cut the number of international students that can be admitted to Danish universities.

When did this start and why?

The truth lays in statistics, and they show that only 1 out of 3 international students will stay in Denmark for more than 2 years after they graduated. This is a loss both for companies and the national workforce. Since 2017 universities were asked to limit the number of international students and accept about 25% fewer students. I can personally confirm the news since this happened also at my university. In 2018 the situation has worsened and many universities had to change the language of their courses from English to Danish and many courses were cancelled.
To be honest I noticed this also in 2017 when I started to look for a top-up course to continue my bachelor. The CBS wasn't offering any top-ups related to my degree in English last year and ultimately I decided to continue at my current university, Via University College.
The big problem is that from now on Denmark will be able to welcome less students every year, but there are also people that think this is not the best solution since it will reduce the diversity of international environment both in universities and workplaces.

After some quick investigation, I found some interesting information that I would like to share with you and I think the Danish government has a point in deciding to reduce the number of international students.

"– Newly educated graduate students are the group who contribute most to the Danish economy out of all English-language students

– On average, international students are believed to contribute 100,000-350,000 kroner each to the state coffers over a lifetime

– On average, it takes about nine years for an international student to ‘repay’ their investment by the Danish state – but about 50 per cent are gone five years after commencing their studies

– Only about 33 per cent of international students contribute positively to the state coffers – the rest are seen as an expense for Denmark"
(source: CPH Post)

What can you do to increase the chances of being accepted at Danish universities

If you what to study in Denmark, you have to understand that the competition to be accepted to Danish universities will be higher than ever. The useful things that you can do are try to get the best results in school and a high score at your final exam. The language certificate is also very relevant and I suggest you choose between TOEFL and IELTS and try to reach a level equal to a C1, this will give you an advantage.

Another thing that you can do is to apply to multiple courses and universities and then rank them based on your preferences, this will increase the possibility of being accepted.

I know I have been absent for quite a long time, but I am back, and I am ready to tell you the reasons that brought me to Denmark.

As you can see I also decided to write in English, so all my friends can understand what I write. My mom will probably hate me for this because she doesn’t understand English 😊 oopsie. Let’s get back to the main topic “Why did I choose Denmark”.There are two reasons behind my choice, the first one is related to the economic aspect: Denmark offers free education to EU students. As soon I discovered this I was beyond excited and obviously, I didn’t realize that I will have to pay rent and expenses and food. Italian universities are not that expensive but, studying for free is awesome so I decided that studying in Denmark was my goal and dream. If the education was thought in Danish I wouldn’t’ve come, because Danish is not an easy language. Fortunately, there are many courses thought in English, and this was the second reason.

When I knew that I was accepted I was ready to make sacrifices and work to pay for the expenses so I would not depend on my mum. When I was in Italy I worked for 6 months for an exhibition and I was able to save some money. I knew that in the beginning I had to pay more money for the deposit of the apartment and the first rent and I wanted to be ready.

After a few days in Denmark, I discovered that EU students have another big benefit which consists of a monthly allowance that you can get if work at least 12 hours per week. This was a big news and as soon as I had all my documents ready I started looking for a job. The monthly allowance is called SU and you must apply to get it. If they approve your application, you will receive it monthly until you work and respect the requirements and its value is approx. 6000 kr before tax.

Last but not least the education system, which I find it to be unique and not comparable to the Italian one or the Romanian one which is definitely outdated. Teachers are awesome, and you can have informal conversations during or after classes and they expect you to participate in the lesson. As a student, you are not stressed at all, but teachers have some expectations, such as reading the chapters from the book and being prepared during classes. The good part is that you will know the schedule for the whole semester and you can easily make plans.

These are awesome reasons to study in Denmark and I think I made the right choice. I would suggest you come to study in Denmark, because of the benefits but also the experience is unique, and you can grow a lot.